Criminal
by Bellatrix567
Summary: Tai Lung has a daughter in prison. Fern helps him escape, but the two of them are soon caught by the Furious Five. Meanwhile, the threat of Lord Shen grows ever stronger...
1. Prologue

Prologue

Sunlight bathed the snowy mountain in gold, shining after a fierce blizzard. From the outside, Chogun Prison could be called beautiful. From the inside, it was a different story.

Tai Lung waited in silence for her to come. He'd been waiting since midnight, but Victoria was never punctual. He wasn't even sure why he wanted the black jaguar to come - she always left him bleeding worse than anything the rhinos would do to him. She was abusive, and the reasons why she came were unfathomable. She just visited him, sometimes with the rhinos' permission and usually without, and now she was pregnant with his child.

But five months had passed since then, the baby had to be born by now. Victoria said she'd bring the kitten there when it was old enough, in a few months.

Lost in thought, Tai Lung didn't notice the appearance Victoria until she dropped about five feet in front of him.

"Victoria!"

"Sorry I was late."

Tai Lung said nothing. In all the seven months he'd known her, this was the first time Victoria wasn't scornful. Looking closer, he realized the jaguar was holding a something. Food? A quick sniff dispelled that theory. Then what...?

Victoria saw him looking and pulled away a light blanket to reveal a snow leopard cub. Tai Lung gasped.

"You... you brought..."

"Of course I brought her, what else was I supposed to do?" said Victoria harshly, her claws coming out momentarily. Tai Lung hardly heard her; he was too busy looking at his cub. It was definitely a female, but she couldn't have looked less like Victoria. You couldn't have guessed she was half jaguar... which was a bad thing, Tai Lung reminded himself, as he was the only snow leopard for miles around.

"I can't take care of her," Victoria said in a rush. Again, she sounded uncharacteristically sorry.

"You can't - _what?_"

"I told you, I can't take care of her," Victoria said again, her voice sharpening as she placed the cub in front of Tai Lung.

"But Victoria... you've got to. You can't honestly expect _me_ to be able to care for a child!" he protested.

"What else am I supposed to do, hand her in to an orphanage?" Victoria snapped.

"That's exactly what you're supposed to do!" Tai Lung said. He already loved the cub, but he knew there was absolutely no way he would be able to care for her while imprisoned.

"I can't, they'd want to know where I'd found her and everything, and do you really think they wouldn't immediately think of you!?" Victoria struck him across the cheek with her claws out. Tai Lung ignored it; this was a common habit of hers when she was annoyed with him. He didn't dare retaliate; he was immobilized, for one thing, and he wasn't worth _Victoria's_ salary. His death would mean nothing to her, where the rhinos would all lose their jobs.

"The rhinos will take her in," Victoria said, bounding away into the darkness. Tai Lung watched her slither up the stone wall on a rope she'd left, knowing it would be the last time he saw her.

No disappointment. Tai Lung turned his attention to the cub in front of him. She had wriggled out of the blankets and was looking around for her mother. The cub was only a few weeks old, and still needed looking-after. She turned and looked toward Tai Lung, nervousness in her eyes. They were the same golden color his were. Out of nowhere, a name for her came to mind; Fern.


	2. Chapter 1: Escape

**Disclaimer: I pity you if you think I own Kung Fu Panda.**

Chapter 1

Escape

_seven years later_

Fern rolled over in her sleep as the rhinos' shouts grew louder. Tim and Tod were always fighting about something.

"I told you, I left it in your room!"

"No, you didn't, I would have seen!"

"You can't even see the horn in front of your face!"

Their voices faded as they walked past. Fern got to her feet and stretched; it was no use trying to go back to sleep now. Leaping from the twenty-foot ledge she had been sleeping on to an even higher one, Fern checked her stores of "borrowed" food. There was enough left for another few days, as she had noted the night before. Hopefully the chief rhino Vachir's mood would lighten by the time she ran out.

Fern hastily ate breakfast, waited a few moments, then gracefully leaped from the ledge to the ground some thirty-five feet below.

"Not showing off again, are you, kitty?" came a voice from behind her. Fern turned around slowly to look up at Tim and Tod, both of whom were glaring down at her.

"No, merely trying not to break my neck," she said coolly and turned to go. There had been a time when she would cower in fear before the rhinos, when she would throw herself at their feet, beg for mercy. But she was no longer afraid of them; although half the guards would happily beat her to a pulp without a moment's hesitation, she could usually get away.

"Don't be smart with me, kitty," Tod said, prodding her with his spiked club. Fern ignored him. She bunched up her muscles and sprang from the ground to grab on to one of the torches along the wall, hoisting herself onto an outcropping in the rock. After settling herself Fern turned back to the rhinos, who were staring at her mutinously. They couldn't climb up to her.

"You were saying?"

It wasn't cowardice to only talk at a safe distance. Not exactly. Fern merely didn't feel like getting her head bashed in today, and the best way to ensure that was to get out of reach from the rhinos' clubs.

"Get down from there," said Tim.

"No."

"Fine, then," said Tim, taking out a dart and hurling it at her. It was a favorite sport of his.

Fern leaped higher as Tod joined in. Finally she got out of reach and pulled a dart from her shoulder, and a second one from her back. The wounds weren't very deep; still, she waited for nearly twenty minutes before going back down to stash the darts and return to ground level.

Typical morning.

"Fern!" Tai Lung called as she leaped down from the wall a few hours later. "What took you so long? I heard shouting. What was that?"

"Rhinos are always shouting, Dad," she said, shrugging.

"They were excited. Last time the rhinos were excited there was a dart in your tail. Now what happened?"

"It was nothing. They missed."

"Then why are you bleeding?"

"Huh?" Fern paused to lick her shoulder. "That's nothing, Dad. I wish you wouldn't worry about me so much."

"Fine, I'll stop worrying," he said. "But what were their names? I'll add them on my list for revenge..."

"There isn't a single rhino here who _isn't_ on that list," said Fern.

"Well, they all had reasons."

"Half of them don't. Some of the rhinos have saved my life."

"Still..." Tai Lung stopped as the wooden elevator clanked to a stop on the opposite side of a huge drawbridge. Fern froze, then backed behind her father.

"Behold Tai Lung," came the voice of Commander Vachir. The drawbridge fell.

"I'll um... I'm just gonna wait right here," came a second voice.

"It's nothing to worry about. It's perfectly safe," said Vachir. Fern felt her hackles rise. So this was a tourist attraction, was it?

"Crossbows! At the ready!" Vachir called to the nonexistent archers. _Showoff, _Fern thought bitterly. There were no crossbows, but it was too dark to see that from here.

"Hey big guy, did you hear?" Vachir taunted, now circling Tai Lung. "Shifu's finally going to choose a Dragon Warrior and it's not gonna be you."

"What are you doing!? Don't get him mad," said the second person. Fern turned to see a strange creature, a few inches taller than her. It had a long, hard-looking muzzle and it was covered in really weird, thick fur. She recognized it as a 'goose,' something she had read about but hadn't seen before. She growled slightly. The goose jumped.

"Is the kitty upset?" said Vachir, assuming Tai Lung had made the noise. What Fern wouldn't give to claw his eyes out...

"What's _that_?" the goose asked, pointing in her direction with one of it's feathers. "I don't like those eyes. Is it Tai Lung? He's escaped! Aaahh!" And it leaped into the air and started flying away.

For a moment Fern just watched the goose in amazement. She hadn't believed that they could actually fly.

"Get back here!" Vachir called to the goose. "She's not going to hurt you!"

The goose landed next to Vachir, trembling.

"Fern!" Vachir snapped.

"What?" she said, stepping into the torchlight. The goose squealed and backed away, but Vachir stopped him.

"Zeng, this is Fern. She's Tai Lung's daughter. She won't hurt you."

Fern resisted the urge to snarl.

"But... Tai Lung's daughter... isn't she evil?" said the goose Zeng, looking anywhere but the two snow leopards.

"'Course she is. But don't worry. She's usually locked up."

"Yep, along with all those archers," Fern said.

Zeng looked confused. "You lock up your archers?"

"C'mon," Vachir said, pulling the goose along. He shot a contemptuous look at Fern before closing the drawbridge.

"Why are they choosing a Dragon Warrior _now_?" Tai Lung said furiously.

"Who cares? What's so special about it?"

"Because you get to read the Dragon Scroll."

"And what makes the Dragon Scroll so special?" Fern said. Although she already knew all about the Dragon Scroll, she didn't see how it was worth... anything, really. She hated it. Hated it for ruining her father's life. If it wasn't for the stupid scroll, she and Tai Lung would be at the Jade Palace rather than Chogun Prison.

"It gives you the secret to limitless power, basically," said Tai Lung. "Doesn't that count as special?"

"The Dragon Scroll's done enough damage."

Fern crept along the dark hallway, sticking to the shadows. She approached the goose's room silently and tried the door. Unsurprisingly, it was locked, but she'd "borrowed" the spare key ages ago.

She wasn't going to do any damage. She just needed to ask the goose a few questions.

Fern entered the room and closed the door behind her, leaving it open a crack to let a little light filter in. She crouched over the goose's bed and prodded him awake.

"Get up."

Zeng blinked, bewildered, and saw Fern.

"Shut up," she whispered as the goose opened his beak to scream.

"W-what do you want?" he asked, trembling.

"I just need you to answer a few questions. Do you work for Shifu?"

Zeng nodded.

"And who is going to be the Dragon Warrior?"

"One of the Furious Five."

"The _what_?"

"Furious Five - they're Shifu's students," Zeng said.

Fern had him fill her in about the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior.

Fern paused after Zeng had finished talking, debating whether or not this would be a good idea...

"Oh, and Zeng," she unsheathed her claws. "Could you find out where Vachir keeps those keys of his?"

"What...?"

"You know what I mean. Tell me tomorrow, and _don't _drop any clues for Vachir." Her claws scraped across the floor. "All right?"

The terrified goose nodded as Fern moved back toward the door.

_ Would he tell? _Fern wondered as she made her way back to the ledge she'd slept on the night before. She was guessing he wouldn't; the goose was a coward and probably wouldn't want to get her mad.

She felt bad for Zeng, but what other choices were there? Fern had tried to steal the key herself, but not knowing where it was made things difficult. And it wasn't as if she was asking Zeng to steal the key for her. She just needed to know it's location. As soon as she goose was gone, she was free.

Fern stiffened as the drawbridge fell the next day. She was down with Tai Lung again and one of the rhinos was coming to bring food. She waited to see who it was, trying to decide whether to hide or not.

"Fern?" came the angry voice of Vachir. Probably better to stay, although she was sure to sustain plenty of injuries by the time Vachir left.

"There you are, _sweetheart_," Vachir growled, approaching Fern. She didn't respond; mockery and flight wouldn't do right now, not with Tai Lung chained less than ten feet away.

"Do you know why that goose is here, Fern?" Vachir said, looming over her.

"No," Fern said, although she actually did. But Vachir didn't need to know she'd interrogated the goose at night.

"He's here because Master Shifu wants higher security. Do you know what that means?"

"That you stop leaving keys everywhere?" The words were out of her mouth before Fern could stop them.

_"Shut up!"_ Vachir's fist swung down and knocked Fern off her feet.

"So with the new security, we're going to lock you up to ensure that your dear father doesn't escape," Vachir snorted. "Like he would."

"So you're just taking her away?" said Tai Lung.

"Of course I am, idiot."

"But you can't! Fern's innocent!"

"Do you think I care?" Vachir snarled, kicking Tai Lung in the face. Tai Lung appeared not to notice the blood cascading from his nose and stared at Fern, the message in his eyes clear: _run_. Fern hesitated. What would happen to Tai Lung if she escaped? But then Vachir started running toward her. Fern dodged his outstretched hands and leaped for the rope ladder she always left hanging specifically for this purpose as well as a safe way to get down to Tai Lung. She climbed frantically, knowing the rope wouldn't support Vachir...

Fern reached the top, a hallway stretching from one side of the cavernous prison to the other, and sprinted down the hallway and up several staircases to reach the top of the prison, inside a hollowed out mountain. She leaped from rock to rock on the walls, panic overcoming her sense of direction for a few minutes before Fern stopped and calmed down. She was safe here.

For Tai Lung, however, it was a different matter. Immobilized, he couldn't flee. And Vachir was probably taking out his anger at her father right now. Fern shivered. _At least we'll be gone soon,_ she thought. She hadn't had much time to relish the idea that she could finally steal the keys to her father's chains, and they would be free.

After she got the keys, the rest of it would be simple. She and Tai Lung could climb the rope ladder, sneak through the prison, and get out at the top, close to where she was now. The only problem was Fern wasn't sure how Tai Lung would manage after not moving for nearly twenty years.

He probably wouldn't be able to leap across the walls like Fern could. It'd taken her years of practice before she was able to leap from one small outcropping in the rock to another, and she still wasn't that good. She might have to use another rope ladder, or the same one since she didn't own two.

And they would need food. Fern had already stolen lots and hidden it outside the prison. There was a small opening at the top of the mountain Fern had used to get out without the rhinos' knowing. It would be very useful now.

"So?" Fern whispered. It was midnight, she was in Zeng's room again.

"Vachir keeps it around his neck," the terrified goose said in a rush. Fern nodded. She'd expected as much.

"But there's got to be multiple keys," she said.

"He wears them all."

"Right. Thanks. Now, you should leave soon - tomorrow or something - you don't want to be around Vachir when he's angry."

Fern left, troubled. She couldn't say she hadn't seen it coming, but it would be nearly impossible to steal the keys if Vachir wore them as a necklace. She'd seen the leather necklace Vachir wore, and it was always tucked away - she'd suspected the keys were there before, but she could never pluck up the courage to grab them. And it would be even harder now that the rhinos wanted to imprison her.

"You're not supposed to be here, Fern," Tai Lung said as she entered his line of vision. "The rhinos are looking for you; they want to lock you up at least until the goose leaves."

"It's not like this is the first time they've tried to catch me," Fern said. "But what did Vachir do to you?" Tai Lung had a black eye and blood was oozing from a cut on his forehead.

"Nothing," Tai Lung made to wipe away the blood, but being unable to move, was unsuccessful.

"I know where the key is," Fern said quickly. "The key to your cell. Vachir has it, just like I'd guessed."

"And?"

"I'm going to steal it - tonight."

"Fern, he'll kill you!"

"He doesn't need to know," Fern said. "I'll just replace it with another key, I'm sure he doesn't test it. And I wouldn't put it past the rhinos to pretend you were still here so they could keep getting their salary."

"Think realistically, Fern. How are we going to get out?" Tai Lung said. "I can't climb walls like you can, and the rhinos won't open the gates for me."

"They don't for me either," said Fern. "But there are cracks and holes in the roof no one's bothered to fill in. All we have to do is get up there..."

"That sounds easy."

"... and then we'll be free!"

"I know it sounds simple," Tai Lung said.

"It is," Fern insisted. "Come on, you want to get out as much as I do, probably more. What's the worst that could happen?" Fern asked the question without much thought, before realizing she already knew the answer. The worst that would happen is that she could get locked up too, or maybe killed. Or Tai Lung could die. Then neither of them would ever get out.

But she'd evaded death and capture (for herself, at least) for three years. Ever since she was four, Fern had started living in the prison, scrounging for food and always trying to find a way for Tai Lung to escape. Now that the opportunity had finally presented itself, she wasn't going to turn it down.

"If you think about it, all that's happened is your guesses have been confirmed," Tai Lung was saying. "It doesn't make us any closer to escape."

"I can just sneak into Vachir's room at night and take the key!"

"If you really want to," Tai Lung shrugged, causing the chains to clank. "But wait until the goose leaves."

"So you agree?"

"Sure."

Fern inserted the key and opened Vachir's door slowly, making sure it didn't squeak. Relief washed over her as she heard him snoring. Fern entered as quietly as possible. The room was large but extremely messy. Fern made her way carefully to Vachir. Surely he didn't sleep with the necklace on?

Fortunately, she was right. Fern approached the bedside table to find a plain piece of leather substituting a chain with a large, blood red key hanging from it. Fern grabbed it and placed it around her own neck. Then she took out another key, a simple one she'd 'borrowed' years ago. She had no idea what it opened. After attaching this to a second piece of leather, Fern quickly departed.

"Dad, wake up," Fern hissed.

"Eh?"

"I've got it! I've got the keys!"

"You're serious?"

Fern held them up. "Hold still."

There wasn't a need to say anything. Fern was beaming as she inserted the key into Tai Lung's handcuffs, then into the turtle shell. It fell off, and her father could move for the first time in twenty years.

"Fern... you're amazing," Tai Lung said weakly. "Now come on - we've got to get out of here."

"You can walk?" Fern verified. "After twenty years of not moving, you know..."

"Don't worry about me," Tai Lung said, getting up and walking shakily on all fours to the rope ladder. Fern got on behind him, guarding in case he fell. There was only thirty feet to go... twenty-five... twenty... fifteen...

"Fern, are you sneaking down to see Tai Lung again?" came a feminine voice. Fern hastily jumped in front of Tai Lung and crawled up.

"Erika?"

The rhino smiled. "You know, Vachir wants to..."

"Imprison me, yeah," Fern said. "I know. I've been avoiding him."

"If you stay there, you'll be found."

"But if you leave this rope ladder, I'll be able to get back up," Fern said, smiling. "Thanks, Erika."

"Be safe," Erika said. She walked away. Fern waited until her footsteps faded away, then went back to Tai Lung.

"You okay?"

"Let's keep going," Tai Lung said.

They reached the top and moved along the hall.

"Okay," Fern whispered. "We've got to get to the top... I think it'll be faster if we climb the wall. I'll get the rope ladder." She went and grabbed it. Fern leaped from ledge to ledge on the wall, finally reaching a point where she could tie the ladder. Hopefully they wouldn't be seen.

Fern quickly climbed back down. "You go, I'll grab some food."

They both arrived at the top fifteen minutes later. Fern was carrying a huge backpack stuffed with bread.

"There's no meat, sorry," she said. "Okay, there's one of the holes I think we can fit through." For every five or six feet was a hole in the rock about a foot wide. Both snow leopards fit easily.

As soon as she was out, Fern ran about twenty feet from the prison (although she was still on top of it), dropped her backpack and leaped into the air.

"We're free! I can't believe it!"

Tai Lung followed, and soon they were both rolling around in the snow, laughing with relief.

After what seemed like hours, the two snow leopards sat up. They exchanged a few words, then Fern took the backpack and they disappeared in the snow, never to return.


	3. Chapter 2: Capture

**I think one disclaimer should suffice for the whole story.**

Chapter 2

"You win," Po gasped, pulling himself up. Tigress sheathed her claws satisfactorily. Not that she had used them on Po - she wasn't going to _seriously_ wound the Dragon Warrior.

"You should have kept your concentration!" Shifu said furiously, striding over to Po. "You can't get distracted every time Viper swallows a bowl, it's not that important!"

Viper barfed up bits of the ceramic bowl behind him.

"And Viper - you obviously did that just to distract him!" Shifu cried, starting on her.

"Actually, I was trying to distract Monkey," Viper said cheerily. "Like you said, Po should have been focusing on Tigress."

"You shouldn't have been trying to distract Monkey, either!" said Shifu. "You were supposed to be sparring with Crane!"

Tigress left Shifu to it and went inside with Mantis, Monkey, Crane and Po. She sat down as Po started making noodles. Again. For the seventh time that day. Viper had often suggested that Po poison his noodles and serve them to the enemy rather than using Kung Fu.

"Hi," Viper said as she entered the room a few minutes later. "Shifu's upset - again - I wouldn't bother him."

"Right," Po said as he served bowls of noodles. "I'll keep that in mind." They settled down to eat just as one of the palace geese flew in through the door.

"Hi, Zeng," Viper said. "What's happened?" For the goose looked extremely worried.

"Nothing... where's Shifu?"

"Outside, but I'd let it wait if I were you. He's a little upset right now - no idea why."

"What's happened?" Tigress said, rising from her chair. "Bandits?"

"Worse," Zeng said. "It's about Tai Lung. He..."

"SHIFU!" Viper yelled. "COME'RE! ZENG HAS SOMETHING TO TELL YOU ABOUT TAI LUNG!"

"Stop yelling!" Shifu said irritably, appearing in the doorway. "_What_, Zeng?"

"He has a daughter," Zeng said in a rush. "And I think she's stolen the key to Tai Lung's cell. They've probably escaped by now, I have no idea."

"That isn't funny," snapped Shifu.

"It's true!" Zeng insisted. "I saw her! Her name's Fern, she's about seven years old. She threatened to kill me, Shifu!"

"I think he's telling the truth," Viper said quietly.

"Tai Lung can't have a child," Shifu said. "The rhinos would have told me."

"It seems like they forgot. Probably thought they'd get in trouble," Viper said.

"They wouldn't do that, they're like the military," Shifu said.

"Not exactly," Zeng said. He hesitated. "Most of them are bullies, actually."

"See?" said Viper.

"So you're trying to tell me..."

"Tai Lung escaped," Zeng said. "The morning I left, he was missing. No one knows where he went."

"He's going to come here, of course!" said Shifu. "To get the Dragon Scroll and get revenge on the village."

"Didn't he try that before?" Viper asked. "And OOOgway stopped him."

"OOOgway is hibernating," Shifu said.

"Still, we should send someone to stop Tai Lung before he gets to the village," Viper protested. "It's common sense. What if Tai Lung goes somewhere else and, like, gets and army or something?"

"What if he doesn't?" Shifu snapped, in a voice saying _Stop contradicting me!_

Viper shrugged and gulped down her whole bowl of noodles.

"Zeng, come with me," Shifu said after a moment. "I need to think this through."

"He's going to do what I said," Viper said as soon as he was out of the room.

"Tai Lung - escaped?" Tigress said disbelievingly. She was still having trouble processing all this. And anyway, Viper was the only one who could contradict Shifu and get away with it. "If he really has, I say go after him right now. There's no time to waste."

"He's really powerful," Monkey said. "I mean, he broke out of what, twenty prisons?"

"Twenty-one now," Viper said. "But it can't be that bad. There's five of us plus Po."

"I think I could fight him," Tigress said. "Alone, I mean. Snow leopards are about this big," she held her hands six inches apart. A _slight_ exaggeration...

Viper seemed to be thinking. "We could go right now," she said slowly. "Or we could wait. I think we should ask OOOgway."

"We can't just leave!" said Po.

"Why not? Shifu won't let the rest of us go," Viper said. "Only you. And no offense, Po, but really..."

"Viper, what are you talking about?" Tigress said. She couldn't act like she agreed - it was disloyal to Shifu. Still, the idea didn't look too bad. Especially if she left by herself...

"Well," Crane said. "If Shifu won't let us go, I'm for it. But we should wait and see if he does."

"He won't," Viper said. "And OOOgway will say no, too, if Shifu asks him."

"How do you know?" said Mantis. "OOOgway's not that predictable. He might say anything. I wouldn't be too surprised if he asked us to pardon Tai Lung and take him in."

Viper only smiled.

Shifu returned half an hour later to find the Furious Five and Po in the Training Room. They were watching Crane spar with Mantis on the Big Blue Bowl; Crane could fly, but Mantis was so small his weight barely affected it.

"I've made my decision," he said. "It is the Dragon Warrior's role to defeat Tai Lung. However, Po is still in need of training. So you guys can go with him and... help, I guess. Keep it a fair fight. Take over if Po is wounded. All right?"

"Yes, Master Shifu," the Five and Po said in unison.

"We leave now?" Tigress verified.

"Yes," said Shifu. "Make your way to Chogun Prison. If you don't meet Tai Lung on the way, talk with the rhinos. Get as much information as you can.

You know Tai Lung has a daughter. Her name is Fern and she's seven years old. I'm sure that she helped him escape," Shifu finished.

"Viper!"

"What?" the snake uncurled herself and looked around. _This is a dream,_ she thought, and knew it was true. She was in a snowy landscape, nothing but snow for miles and miles. There was a huge black python in front of her holding a pen. Viper gasped.

"Bellatrix?"

The Author was contacting her again. Viper was born with the knowledge that she was in a book, and she was sometimes contacted by the Author. She called the Author by her pen name, Bellatrix567 (she dropped the numbers). Knowing about the Author was very rare. As far as Viper knew, only she and OOOgway knew they were in a book.

"Hey," the snake smiled. The human eyes blinked. There was a small scar on her right eye. "Okay, this is going to sound very stupid. Very very very stupid. Um... I couldn't find a better way to get this into the story, so just tell OOOgway... Fern has to live at the Jade Palace. It's a huge part of the story. It doesn't have to be that long, just a month or whatever."

"Okay," Viper said. "But why? And couldn't you make it happen anyway? You control everything."

"Yeah. It feels weird talking to you when I'm also making up everything you say," Bellatrix said. "Anyway, thanks."

"Bellatrix?" Viper asked. "Are you going to kill me?"

Bellatrix smiled. "That would kind of ruin the story for the readers, wouldn't it?"

"Wait a sec - you're posting...?"

The snow started to swirl up, obscuring everything. "Goodbye, Viper," the Author's voice sounded distant.

The next thing she knew, Viper was in a tent, curled up next to Tigress.

"Viper? You okay?" Tigress asked. Viper had jumped up and looked very disoriented.

"Fine," Viper said. "Weird dream, that's all."

"Well, it's morning anyway," Tigress said, getting up and stretching. They had set up camp at the side of the road winding between the Valley of Peace and another village, the Mountain of Violence. The last attack on the Mountain of Violence was a few centuries ago. The latest attack on the Valley of Peace was last week.

"Great, you're up," said Crane. He and the other boys were packing their tent up.

"Yeah," Tigress said. They had left the Jade Palace yesterday, and were now on their way to Chogun Prison. It was about three days' travel.

"Tigress, scout ahead," Po said. "We'll get food in the nearest village, maybe rent a room for the night."

"Right," Tigress said. "I'll be back here in an hour." She waited until her friends disappeared, then started to search the field they were in. She'd been smelling something all day, something feline... she was sure it was Tai Lung.

After ten or so minutes, Tigress stopped in an apple orchard and sniffed. She looked above her. In that tree were...

A jaguar roared, and a small, fluffy snow leopard leaped down on Tigress' head and clawed at her. She roared in surprise and tried to swipe at the cat now clawing at her, but a second snow leopard leaped on her back, causing her knees to buckle.

Tai Lung and his daughter had ambushed her.

Tigress roared again, rolling over to get them off her. In Tai Lung's case, she succeeded. Fern, however was still clinging on. Tigress swiped at her and heard a yowl. Tai Lung tried to leap at her; she blocked him with kung fu.

But they were fighting instinctively, using teeth and claws rather than fists. Tigress might as well do the same - she leaped on Tai Lung, hardly noticing as Fern raked her claws through Tigress' fur, drawing blood.

Tai Lung clawed at her face. Tigress bit down on his paw - hard. She felt his bones break under her teeth. She sent Fern flying ten feet or so with a kick and forced Tai Lung into a choke hold. Standing on her hind paws, Tigress was at least a head taller than him.

The fight had lasted less than five minutes, but all three of them were bleeding badly. Fern looked as if she was trying to decide whether to run or not.

"Hi. We're just some innocent snow leopards who fell out of a tree. You might want to check peoples' names before trying to murder them," Fern said coldly.

"You are Tai Lung and Fern, though aren't you?" Tigress said.

"Obviously," Fern said. "But I'll feel bad for rabbits when one of them becomes a criminal. They're not as rare as snow leopards."

Tigress felt herself flush. "Come on." She released her hold on Tai Lung. "We're going to the village."

Fern moved to walk next to Tai Lung. He was limping heavily.

Yes, everything was going as planned (more or less), but she couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed. Fern knew they wouldn't be able to survive by constantly running. The Furious Five and others were bound to come after them - that prediction had come true a little sooner than she'd expected. So Fern and Tai Lung had started moving toward the Jade Palace. If they were going to be caught, why not by someone decent? They obviously wouldn't be set free (something Fern wanted more than ever now), but hopefully the conditions would get better. They'd get locked up in a normal prison. They'd be exiled. Something like that.

"So we're going to this place 'the village.' Where after that?" Fern said. _Not back to the prison, _she thought. She was never, ever going back there. There'd be no escape a second time.

"I'll decide later," Tigress said shortly.

Probably meant they weren't going to the prison. If Fern could appeal to the Five's sympathy, she might be able to get herself a trial along with Tai Lung...

"The rest of the Five are here?" Tai Lung questioned, following Fern's lead.

Tigress nodded. "And the Dragon Warrior." Tai Lung gritted his teeth.

A few minutes later they walked into the village, Fern now supporting Tai Lung. The rest of the Five and Po ran up as soon as they saw Tigress.

"Hey, Tigress," said Monkey. "Who're they?" he gestured toward Fern and Tai Lung. Tigress smiled slightly.

"I've caught Tai Lung," she said. "And this is Fern - they ambushed me. Sorry, Po."

"Tigress, are you sure that's him?" Po said. Fern rolled her eyes. She should have expected this - no one expected a weak, starving snow leopard much smaller than Tigress to be the infamous Tai Lung. She should have used it to their advantage; they could have pretended to be someone else. If she was able to make Tigress feel stupid enough to let them go... But like she'd said before, if a rabbit became a criminal, these Kung Fu masters would eliminate the whole species.

"Yes," Tigress said. "Come on, how many snow leopards are there?"

"We should stop at a restaurant or something," said Viper. "Figure things out and send word to Shifu before we leave."

"I say spend the night," said Po. "We don't even knew where we're going yet."

"We're going back to the Valley of Peace, of course," Viper said.

"No, we're going to Chogun Prison," Mantis countered.

"Shifu wouldn't like that," said Crane. "He'd want us to go back."

"'Course he would, we're just stopping along the way," Monkey said.

"No, we're checking with OOOgway first," Viper said.

"You just want to get home," said Tigress. "It's not going to take that long..."

"I'll fight to death before you guys throw me back to the rhinos," Fern said. Her voice was quiet, but everyone turned to look at her. "Don't people usually commit crimes before being sent to prison? And don't they get trials?"

"See?" said Viper. "We're going to the Valley of Peace."

In the end they decided to stay at a hotel for the night.

"This is the girls' room!" Viper called, jumping on the bed.

"How come you guys get the bigger room?" Monkey said. "There's only two of you!"

"Four, we're guarding Fern and Tai Lung. And Mantis doesn't need a bed to himself," Viper said.

"Neither do you!" Mantis protested.

"Excuse me, I..."

"Shut up, both of you," said Tigress. Her bites and scratches were starting to hurt, and it wasn't putting her in a very good mood. And something was bothering Viper, she could tell; the snake just had better ways of hiding it.

Tigress stretched out on one of the beds as soon as the boys left. "Wake me up in three hours."

Fern snuggled under the covers next to Tai Lung. Technically, it was 'wrong' for them to share a bed, but there were only two mattresses. It was the least of her worries right now.

Fern blinked in the darkness. Her night vision was better outside the prison, with moonlight streaming through the window. She could feel Viper's eyes on the back of her neck. The snake had instantly been her favorite amongst the Five. She was the only one who actually cared about Fern or Tai Lung, rather than just wanting to please Shifu. Perhaps if Fern wasn't so frazzled, she'd go and talk to Viper.

Maybe later. Fern rolled over and winced. Both she and Tai Lung hadn't seen a doctor yet. Tigress had. There had been a short argument in which Viper argued for Fern and Tai Lung and everyone else, minus Po, said it could wait. So much for kindness. Fern thought of everything she'd say if she got a public trial... but of course the judge would be another Kung Fu master, so she'd probably just land in prison again.

Why had Tai Lung wanted to come back to this? To be a Dragon Warrior? To be like the Five? Fern really hoped he hadn't treated his victims like this. Even if they were 'evil.'

Fern closed her eyes and tried to get to sleep. Although the bed was infinitely comfortable, especially compared to the customary sleeping mats, she couldn't get to sleep. Her mind was spinning with questions. What was going to happen to her and Tai Lung? Thankfully the Five weren't as unforgiving as the rhinos - they probably weren't going to be sent back to the rhinos. Probably. But then Shifu or OOOgway might send them back anyway...

Thinking back, Fern's plan seemed extremely unprofessional. Escape, then purposely get captured again? And it wouldn't hurt to run the other way... maybe go to Japan. Somewhere where they weren't well known. Then if the Five caught up to them, they'd be able to resist abduction as Japanese citizens. Politics always helped.

Fern sighed and pulled out of her imagination. It was late. Maybe if Tigress and Viper were asleep... no. Trying to escape at this point would be useless.

"Fern, get up," Tai Lung shook her awake.

"What? Oh, right..." Fern trailed off and got out of bed. "Lovely day ahead of us!"

"Sure. Come on," Tai Lung said. The two of them moved toward the door, where Viper was waiting. Her whole body was about the same width as Fern's forearm.

"Glad you're up," she said. "Let's go have breakfast, then I'll call the doctor."

"Right."

"Sorry about last night," Viper said. "They'll warm up to you. The Five, I mean."

"Nice to know," said Tai Lung. Viper shifted uncomfortably.

_Nice to know that here we won't get beat up by saying something you Kung Fu people don't like,_ Fern thought. She'd instinctively backed away from Viper when Tai Lung had spoken.

An hour or so later, they were all ready to go. Fern was relieved, although not very surprised, that they were going to the Valley of Peace.

**I hope you all understood that bit about me coming and talking to Viper in a dream. I'm explaining more about it in chapter 2.5 (well, OOOgway explains it, anyway). Basically Viper knows that she's in a book and I come and talk to her sometimes...**


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